Hearing Xie Qingyan's words, Squire Zhao's smile froze.
What was Daoist Xie talking about? Where would a girl come from?
He cast a secret glance at Xie Qingyan. This Daoist Xie looked as bright and clear as the moon and breeze; he didn't look like he was possessed by a ghost, did he?
Just then, he suddenly felt a gust of eerie wind blow past his neck, and goosebumps instantly erupted all over his skin.
Then, he watched helplessly as Xie Qingyan lightly tugged at the air beside him, as if he had caught hold of something.
"Daoist... Daoist Xie!" Squire Zhao's eyes instantly filled with tears, and his legs couldn't stop trembling.
Xie Qingyan met his gaze and nodded. "There is no need to be afraid, Master Zhao."
Squire Zhao tightly gripped the hand of the servant beside him and led Xie Qingyan to the Linqin Garden.
In the afternoon, Ji Zhaoxi did not stay at the Zhao residence. She went to find a very important person.
Amidst her wailing, the person she was waiting for finally appeared.
"Sister Qin, Sister Qin, I have a very important matter that I need your help with right now."
Upon seeing the woman—no, female ghost—in front of her, Ji Zhaoxi threw herself right at her.
Sister Qin was the ghost who had taught her how to sing last time, but her grave was in the neighboring village, so it took quite a bit of effort for Ji Zhaoxi to find her every time.
Sister Qin cast a sideways glance at her. "Speak. What do you need help with?"
"Sister Qin, I want to enter someone's dreams. Can you teach me how?" Ji Zhaoxi quickly asked.
She wanted to bewitch Xie Qingyan in his dreams so that he would kill her.
Hearing this, Sister Qin turned pale with fright. She continuously sized up Ji Zhaoxi, thought seriously for a moment, and finally looked at her with a complicated expression.
"Sister Zhaoxi, I didn't expect that you had grown up too."
Ji Zhaoxi nodded with a face full of anticipation.
Sister Qin sat on a swing and asked her, "What is the status of that man? Since we are already female ghosts, if we are going to choose someone, we have to choose someone impressive."
Ji Zhaoxi sat beside her, hands resting on her knees, and answered honestly, "Sister Qin, he is a Daoist priest."
Sister Qin was so frightened that she abruptly stood up, her voice twisting slightly. "A... a Daoist priest?"
She looked at Ji Zhaoxi in disbelief. "Sister Zhaoxi, I never thought that despite your honest and simple appearance, you would have such guts!"
She thought Ji Zhaoxi had taken a fancy to some young nobleman, but she didn't expect that she actually wanted to pin down a Daoist priest!
Ji Zhaoxi was a little happy to be praised, but was too embarrassed to show it. "There's no helping this kind of thing, you know."
Sister Qin looked at her with a complicated expression. "There is indeed no helping matters of the heart."
She patted Ji Zhaoxi's head. "Since you have grown up, Sister Qin will tell you the method to enter dreams."
"But the prerequisite is that you must be able to get close to him. Then, when that Daoist priest is half-asleep and half-awake, you must press yourself upon him and infuse your yin energy into his consciousness. Only then can you enter his dream."
Ji Zhaoxi suddenly understood. "Thank you, Sister Qin, I understand now."
Sister Qin was always helping her, yet she had nothing good to repay her with. A brilliant idea suddenly popped into Ji Zhaoxi's mind.
"Sister Qin, didn't you say before that you wanted to reincarnate? I have a great idea now."
Sister Qin's eyes lit up. "What great idea?"
Ji Zhaoxi held her hands and said excitedly, "I can have Daoist Xie come find you and let him help you cross over. He is a very good person and will definitely help you find a good family."
Sister Qin jumped in fright and quickly pushed Ji Zhaoxi away, furiously smacking her head. "I think you're crazy! You want to invite a wolf into our home? You are not allowed to bring that Daoist priest here!"
Ji Zhaoxi nodded aggrievedly. "Understood."
Sister Qin clutched her chest. She didn't even have a beating heart anymore, yet she was still angered half to death by her.
Sister Qin now suspected whether that stinky Daoist priest had tricked Ji Zhaoxi, but this girl was so foolish that the Daoist priest probably couldn't swindle anything worthwhile out of her anyway.
Seeing Sister Qin looking at her, Ji Zhaoxi gave her a smile.
Sister Qin: ...
Sister Qin sighed. "Sister Zhaoxi, why haven't I heard your singing lately?"
Her eyes carried a hint of reproach. "You need to lay a solid foundation. If you skip practice for one day, your hands and feet will be slow; skip two days, and you lose half of what you learned; skip three days, and all your sweat is wasted; skip four days, and you might as well go see the grandmaster!"
As female ghosts, wasn't the most important thing that resentful, sorrowful weeping?
From ancient times to the present, countless scholars and poets had written about the mournful, weeping songs of female ghosts. How many people ever wrote about the songs of male ghosts?
Looking at Ji Zhaoxi, who had lowered her head in shame, Sister Qin continued, "The sisters from our neighboring villages all sing at night, but only your Qingxi Town has no singing. It's completely empty. For the sake of Qingxi Town's dignity, you have to sing a few lines, right?"
Ji Zhaoxi's eyes reddened. "But someone said my singing is scary."
Sister Qin cursed out loud, "How is it scary? A female ghost's singing is the most beautiful instrument in the world!"
She looked at Ji Zhaoxi encouragingly. "Come on, sister."
One must carry themselves with confidence!
Ji Zhaoxi stood a little further away and cleared her throat. "Oh, my dear lord... turn around and look at me... look at what color my heart is..."
The high-pitched voice drew out a long trailing note, making it sound even more ethereal and sorrowful in the mountains.
Sister Qin looked at her with a face full of maternal love, shedding tears of blood as she listened.
As Ji Zhaoxi sang, the female ghosts from other villages also started to harmonize with her. Their voices were not synchronized; some ghosts sang fast, as if rushing to reincarnate, while others dragged out a long corpse-like tone, as shrill and mournful as a broken string.
For a time, eerie winds began to blow through the mountains, filled with a heavy, ghostly aura.
Master Zhao, who was walking halfway up the mountain, was almost frightened into a faint.
He tightly hugged his servant, snot and tears streaming down his face. "Isn't it daytime right now? These female ghosts are truly lawless."
The servant cried even louder, burning paper money as he wept. "All you sisters, aunts, and grandmas, please don't come looking for us... don't come looking for us..."
It took quite a while before this female ghost choir performance finally ended.
At night, the moon hung upon the withered branches, so white it looked slightly blue.
By this time, most of the villagers had already gone to sleep, and so had Xie Qingyan.
Ji Zhaoxi carefully floated toward Xie Qingyan's courtyard. A cat hiding in the corner looked at her in terror, its fur standing on end.
Afraid of scaring the little kitten, Ji Zhaoxi quickly floated into Xie Qingyan's room.
Xie Qingyan lay on the bed, sleeping extremely soundly. His hands were folded over his abdomen and his legs were pressed together. Were it not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, he would look just like a white jade statue of a god.
Ji Zhaoxi carefully lay on top of him. She originally thought she would be bounced off, but she didn't expect to succeed on her very first try.
She leaned close to his face and infused her yin energy into his consciousness. Not long after, she fell asleep.
When Ji Zhaoxi opened her eyes again, she found herself enveloped in a wave of warmth. Ever since she became a ghost, she had never felt this way again.
Xie Qingyan's consciousness was a sea of white like mutton-fat jade. The surroundings were so quiet that there wasn't even the sound of the wind, carrying a kind of tranquility that could soothe all anxiety.
And Xie Qingyan floated in the center of this nothingness. His eyes were closed, his expression peaceful, and his breathing was so faint it seemed almost nonexistent.
